Month: July 2014

Over the past year or so, there has been the discussion around flood management in the GTA communities. Most of these discussions were a result of the heavy rainfalls and flooding that took place last July (2013).

If you were to go back almost 10 years ago to the Finch Avenue Flood that washed away some of the roadway. It was partially due to both altering the natural flow of water for development and the massive amount of asphalt and cement in the area. The large amount of imprevious surfaces resulted in the water not having any place to go and building up.

Some communities are now focusing on and removing their imprevious surfaces and replacing them with either pemerable paving or creating gardens. An example of pemerable surfaces/paving that is currently being used for both commercial and residential uses is a company called CoreGravel. CoreGravel uses a series of raised hollow hexagons which can be filled with either gravel, soil, or grass. What I like about this product is that even though it is pemerable surface and can be filled with various product, it is still strong enough to stand up to the weight of automobiles and accessible devices.

A lot of communities are now focusing on rain gardens. These are gardens that are usually incorporated beside the sidewalk, where water run-off can be catched and reduce flooding. Take a look at these examples in various North American communities.

I would suggest that GTA communities begin focusing on adding and increasing their pemerable surfaces to help reduce urban flooding. There should also be a focus on ‘wild design’ and incorporating nature into current and future designs. It would also benefit communities to add in more greenspace such as Greenroofs and rain basins to reduce runoff. Implementing this now, would be able to reduce the cost of flooding and water damage in future years to come.

This articles focuses on the important on transit oriented development to help provide both sustainable development and smarter regional planning. It states that to decrease the amount of green house gas emissions in the region it must focus on providing affordable housing near transit routes. This is due to that people of low-income are likely to drive their vehicles to get to work instead of taking public transit if it is too far from them. Research has shown that there is correlation between low-income housing near transit hubs and miles travelled. This imitative looks at providing affordable housing near transit routes to decrease the amount of emissions coming from vehicles.

The article provides a strong quote on the topic of housing and transportation –

“If cities and regions really want to get serious about climate protection, sustainable development, and regional resiliency, they’ll have to start incorporating affordability and equity measures, as California is doing now,” said Scott Bernstein, President of CNT. “As our research in California and across the country shows, location efficiency is key to keeping housing and transportation options as convenient and affordable as possible, and to minimizing our contributions to climate change.”